Week Four

The final week of the exhibiting of Nothingness will see the TV monitor completely removed from the exhibit and in its place the still photograph will be accompanied by headphones for the audience to have a one to one experience with the work. Using the EVP recordings the viewers will hear the calls of the dead while viewing the photograph.

Week Three

The third week of Offstage will see the video change from the romantic appearance to a TV snow with a different sound to the previous week being added to the video footage. Using the influence of EVP and the film white noise as inspiration the video will highlight the usage of signals being transmitted through electronic appliances. Many films have highlighted the aspect of the paranormal within them and this has intrigued the practice to incorporate an avenue of these amongst the work. The video is to be played on loop like the other videos that have been showed during the exhibiting of Off stage. The altering of the work may only be seen by the members of staff or regular visits who take notice of the work, but the idea that friends of others will have gained a different experience from the work inspires me to try out the different alternatives to the work, it is also allowing me to gain understanding on how best the piece works with a collective of circumstances about the footage of the work.

Week Two

For the second week of Off Stage the video footage has again been altered, but this time sound has been applied to the film, an electronic voice phenomena has been overload with usual noises of what is meant to be a UFO, it has a feeling of unease about the sound, the repetitive voice saying find me, fades in and out to create a distant feel to the work, for myself this has added to the aspect of the possibility of there being life after death reflected in the work. The idea of altering the work weekly also shows the development of the work.

Week One

The first week will show the first video created of nothingness although it is a more edited down version, as the start of the first edit was long and left the viewer wondering what was meant to be happening, parts of the ash flying was also double in speed to give a feeling of seeing something in the corner of the eye, like a ghost quickly moving past, the work has a clean cut effect, an aspect of the sublime, although this was not necessarily the intention. The still photograph seems to be distracted by the film, but can still be viewed as an individual piece, neither piece can be viewed at the same time with a full eye focus, which in a way i seem to convey this notion as for me there are two possibilities, the after life either exists or it doesn't.

Statement to accompany the work.

Nothingness follows the obsession Cat Preston has with the questioning of life after death and the possibility that it may only be a man made fantasy, a situation that helps man exist in a world turned bad.

The physical properties of death scare and challenge the most hardest of individuals and with the uncertainty or untruth, how can we place the belief of life after death in to a category of certainty.

Preston’s obsession with the afterlife has been developed through a multitude of political, cultural and scientific investigations of life after death. The still photograph regards the lifelessness; the photograph that holds a memory, a moment captured in time, the television the idea off EVP, the signals from which the voices of the dead can be heard.

Studies into Near death experience’s and parapsychology develop and transcend the visual art practice. An element of fear at the center of the context brings development and respondance to the avenue of death, grieving for the loss of a loved one can alter and transform the existence of the self within this realm. The fear that you will never see that person again can convince you that you will.

According to the neurobiologist Jean-Pierre Changeux when coping with reality the brain can sometimes see things not as they really are: inventing things that do not exist. The aspect of not being able to identify something as it has not yet been explained has an interesting avenue to whether there is belief in life after death. Joseph Pearce explains this as “mans mind mirrors a universe that mirrors mans mind” relating to how man creates an idea which can grow, for the man later to decide whether to confirm or deny. The work of Preston regards the two avenues of belief in life after death, wanting to believe there is yet holding doubt about its true existence.

During the “off stage” exhibition Nothingness is to alter and change during its time within the Playhouse, although only minimal changes the piece will transform and alter during the duration of the exhibition.

Off Stage
Playhouse
Nottingham
7 June - 31 July 2007

For the exhibition Off Stage at the Playhouse in Nottingham, nothingness will go through a transformation during the month of the exhibition. Using the still photograph and the video, they will be displayed in partnership with each other, giving the space provided for the exhibiting of the work it has been decided to use a portable television for the film and to have the print framed. The displaying of the work is to give them there own individual space but juxtaposition them in relation to each other. Ideally the film would off been projected next to the still but due to lack of equipment it has been reassessed for this particular exhibition. The exciting part of the show is that it has been decided to change weekly, this is to be done by alteration of the film or, by adding sound or altering the appearance of the film. They may only be small alterations, but as the work is a new development of the practice a notion of showing the work behind the scenes, I feel that it would be interesting to highlight this idea within the work, similar to how Felix Gonzalez-Torres would alter his exhibitions if they went on for a long duration of time.

May

The print has finally arrived to a standard I am willing to accept, plus I don't think it will get any better and at least the snow is finally white. The print has been framed to finish the image off and is to be displayed within Off Stage, the exhibition taking place at the Play House, Wellington Circus, Nottingham. the space itself is limited and it is unlikely that the video and still will be shown together within this event, although experimentations are to take place to see how the video works with a TV monitor and how it may be displayed within the show.

April

Well after waiting over a month now and three prints later the printers are still trying to get the contrast right, after endless calls into the shop i am starting to ever wonder if the work will be complete with a perfect still image. they have now sent it off to a specialist printers who individually pick the contrast before printing out the image.

March

It was so great to see the projection of the film in the black out room, it made me realise that the black wall worked perfectly, it also highlighted how the film could be that bit longer so i reassessed and developed a longer continuous circle of the film. It was also great to receive comments about the work from my colleagues, ideas came in regard to limiting the area of view also how the image was quite gray and did not have the same quality of contrast when compared to the 7x5 print. so with this I decided to return and get the print redone.

When thinking about the existence of the afterlife I have a personal conflict about it, in a spiritual sense I believe that there is life after death that we carry on, meet up with the people we knew on this realm. near death experience and investigations into parapsychology have developed my belief into there being something more after we die, and as my head tells me there is my heart tells me there's nothing, researching scientifically, the logic of the procedure about the near death experience gives explanation and understanding into the happening of death, although there does seem to be conflict on both parts, where i myself am in conflict and looking for evidence that life does exist after death, although i have still not come to any conclusion and still search for the answer, where by other people either believe or don't. nothingness shows the two sides to belief in the afterlife with a still photographic image resembling nothing but death, a monotone image of fallen ash, laying motionless on the ground, where the video projection is of the possibility of life after death, a continuing, the ash flying through the air over the wall, but whats behind the wall, a blue sky full of romantic utopia maybe.

January 2007

The first snow shadow took place at Tideswell in the Derbyshire dales, with a little guided help the wind blow the ash and created the void, a black hole a combustion of ash, as if someone had just been stood there. during the undertaking my first intention was to let the wind pick up the ash creating its own pattern or happening, although this was not the case, maybe it could off been a shielded field, or a day with less wind, but it did not go to plan. an idea then led to helping the ashes movement along, so with a little help the wind picked up the ash and carried it briefly through the air before settling on the snow.

The photographic images were then manipulated in Photoshop to see how the piece would work if colour was brought into the piece, with advice from Danica it was decided that the ash should stay natural and that the work should be investigated some more and retried in a setting that did not incorporate tractor marks in the snow.

February 2007

Luckily it snowed again, but this time it was even deeper, so i returned to Tideswell to recreate the snow shadow, this time around the happening was not video documented as i felt that i had already required the footage that i wanted to develop into a short film animation.